No one ever grumbles about a crumble, as they put it, and this is their classic. Hairy Bikers apple crumble uses four eating apples and two Bramleys with 50g of flaked almonds in the topping, comes from British Classics, and serves six at about 490 calories.
They call apple the classic and their personal favourite, though they point out you can use all sorts of fruit. The almonds are their own addition, put in for extra crunch and flavour.
Everything happens in the one dish. The apples are peeled, quartered and mixed with sugar and cinnamon where they will bake, the topping is rubbed in a separate bowl, and that is the whole job.
Hairy Bikers Apple Crumble
Description
Two kinds of apple go in raw, tossed with demerara and cinnamon. Flaked almonds are stirred into the rubbed-in topping at the last moment so they stay whole. It bakes at 200°C until the top is golden and the apples underneath are soft.
Ingredients
For the filling
For the topping
Instructions
- Heat the oven: Preheat to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6.
- Mix the apples: Put all the apples in an ovenproof dish, add the demerara sugar and cinnamon and mix well.
- Make the topping: Mix the flour and caster sugar in a bowl, add the butter and rub it into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until the mixture has the texture of coarse breadcrumbs.
- Add the almonds: Stir in the flaked almonds and mix well.
- Assemble: Sprinkle the topping over the apples.
- Bake: Bake for about 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the apples are cooked.
- Serve: Serve with cream or custard.
FAQs
Can I put oats in this crumble?
Yes, and they tell you how. Add 50g of oats to the crumble mixture for a bit of extra chewiness, which is their own tip at the end of the recipe.
The almonds are already doing a similar job here, so you get texture either way. Adding both gives you a busier topping, which some people love and some find too much going on.
Why four eating apples and only two Bramleys?
Because Bramleys collapse. They break down into a sharp purée, while eating apples hold their shape and stay sweet.
Four to two is their ratio and it leaves you with a filling that has both. Some pieces hold together, some have gone to sauce, and the cinnamon and demerara sit between them.
What do the almonds actually do?
They add crunch and flavour, which is their stated reason for putting them in. Fifty grams of flaked almonds through a topping made from 150g of flour is a lot, so you notice them.
Stir them in after the butter is rubbed in, not before. Rubbing them with the flour would break them up, and you want the flakes whole so they toast on top.
Do I need to cook the apples first?
No, they go in raw. Thirty minutes at 200°C is enough for both kinds, which is why they are quartered rather than sliced thin.
That is also why this is quicker than most crumbles. Their apple and blackberry crumble takes 40 minutes at a lower 170°C, because its topping has soft brown sugar in it that would catch at this heat.
What other fruit can I use?
They say all sorts, and there are three more on the site to prove it. Their plum crumble uses a kilo of plums with orange and mixed spice, and their rhubarb crumble adds cornflour to stop it going soggy.
There is even a savoury one. Their vegetable crumble swaps the sugar for Cheddar and parsley, which tells you how far the method stretches.
